OAKLAND — Earlier than his custom, Latrell Sprewell took the court at about 6:20 p.m. Pacific time last night with buddy Rick Brunson for early shooting drills. There were only a couple of hundred fans at The Arena in Oakland but it

didn’t take long for Spree to get into it with a fan.

“Who are you going to sue next?” a Golden State fan yelled at Sprewell — the first of what would be many taunts on the night. Sprewell shouted back at the fan, telling him to “Shut the [bleep] up.”

Sprewell did not talk before the game. After the incident, Brunson told The Post “There were a group of kids down there. The fan was a grown man and he shouldn’t be yelling those things in front of them. We’ve just had a bad week.”

Sprewell arrived at the arena trailed by four TV cameras, wearing a Gangsta navy blue ski cap. When the team came out for pre-game warmups, Sprewell led the Knicks out.

Sprewell, in his first game back in Oakland since he choked P.J. Carlesimo during practice, was saved for last during player intros and received a heavy booing, although there were about 1,000 fans standing and applauding. Sprewell chest-bumped his teammates as he ran onto the court. Carlesimo could be seen smiling on the sidelines.

The first several times Sprewell touched the ball in the opening quarter, thunderous boos rained down, but when he made a shot, there were scattered cheers. There were plenty of taunts early in the first quarter, one fan yelling, “Why don’t you choke the ref.” Overall, it was a hostile reaction for Sprewell.

Carlesimo broke down and admitted last night’s game between the Warriors and Sprewell’s Knicks wasn’t “like another game” as he tried to claim earlier this week on a conference call.

There was a near-sellout crowd of 18,000 on hand for Sprewell’s return. The stumbling Warriors had been averaging only 11,000 this season and had lost their last three home meetings to the Knicks.

“No one is going to say it’s just another game,” backpedaled Carlesimo, choked by Sprewell during a Dec. 1, 1997 Golden State practice. “It’s another game in terms of a ‘W’ and ‘L.’ But I think there will be certainly a different and special atmosphere.”

“Any time you do something where your name is attached to the word ‘incident,’ you know you did something pretty serious,” Warriors guard Tim Legler said before the game. “The Sprewell incident. The O.J. Simpson incident. People are always going to be referring to that because it never happened before and it probably will never happen again. I hope.”

What kind of reception Sprewell received from the Oakland crowd was the million dollar question before tipoff. All week, Sprewell said he felt it would be “mixed” but finally admitted late Friday night he expected to receive more abuse than adulation. Which was the case early. Indeed, his remarks this week that he held “bitterness” and “hatred” for the entire organization and he wanted to “crush” and “kill” the Warriors probably didn’t sit well with some Bay Area fans.

“Some boos, some cheers,” Sprewell said beforehand. “Probably more boos but that’s to be expected. Every year I come back, I’m going to have to deal with it, especially if P.J.’s there.”

If Sprewell has Bay Area enemies, they weren’t not on the jury that levied him with a paltry $105,000 in damages during a civil trial in early October for running an elderly couple’s car off the road after going 90 mph on an exit-only ramp. David Greenseid, attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Post Thursday he is considering filing a motion for a retrial. Sources say a juror wrote the judge a letter, claiming another juror spoke to Sprewell during a lunchbreak — which is grounds for jury misconduct.

Sprewell said he still has a lot of friends in Oakland and hung out with them during the two-week civil trial. “I have more friends there than I can keep up with,” Sprewell said. “I’m getting no more than 10 tickets. I’ll let everyone else get their own.”

Jeff Van Gundy said in cases he’s seen regarding homecomings, players have been too mellow, citing Anthony Mason and Derek Harper’s returns to the Garden. There shouldn’t be much concern regarding Sprewell’s demeanor.

Sprewell is worried about being too jacked. “I don’t see myself being timid at all,” Sprewell said. “I can’t see it.

“I want to enjoy it,” Sprewell added “I hope we can break this two-game losing streak. That’s the most important thing because we haven’t played well in back-to-back situations. And secondary, I want to be able to play well.”

Some Warriors are surprised Sprewell still holds such bitterness over the incident. But they all knew he’d be fired up to the max. John Starks, playing his first game against the Knicks since last January’s Sprewell trade, got the assignment on Sprewell.